GRAA NEWSLETTER
P.O. Box 1184, Greenbelt, MD 20768-1184

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM TONY COMBERIATE, GRAA PRESIDENT: Our September luncheon speaker was Dr. Donald Jennings, a recently retired GSFC Aerospace Engineer, who for more than 40 years worked on many high-profile missions, including Cassini and the New Horizons mission. His presentation, entitled “New Horizons Visits Ultima Thule,” described the latest discoveries of the New Horizons spacecraft as it passed by Pluto and the Kuiper Belt object, some 4.1 billion miles from Earth. Don described the New Horizons spacecraft, which was launched on January 19, 2006, to study the dwarf planet Pluto before venturing on to the distant Kuiper Belt. The New Horizons spacecraft is about the size of a car and carries several instruments, including visible, infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, cameras, a radio science experiment, field and particle sensors, and a dust counter. When New Horizons flew by Pluto on July 14, 2015, some 50 years to the day after Mariner 4 made its closest approach to Mars, it found the surface to be much more varied than expected, containing mountains, glaciers and craters, and detected the presence of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane, and water on the surface. Pluto was also found to have a family of previously unknown moons (ranging in size from 50 km down to 8 km), in addition to Charon, which had been discovered in 1978. Whereas Pluto’s spectrum showed mostly methane, Charon’s showed mostly water. In order to encounter an object beyond Pluto, a target had to be identified to make a course change immediately after Pluto. The Hubble Space Telescope found three potential targets in the summer of 2014, and Ultima Thule (which means “Beyond the Known World”) was chosen for the next encounter. New Horizons first detected Ultima Thule in August of 2018, but could not get a good look at it until the actual encounter occurred on January 1, 2019. Data was taken over a relatively short period before and after the spacecraft was able to fly by the object. The initial data obtained was fascinating. The 35 km long binary object, with hills and craters, consisted of a large flat lobe (Ultima), more a disc than a sphere, connected to a smaller round lobe (Thule). It is thought that as the two objects approached each other, they orbited around each other until they gently touched and merged without much damage. The Ultima Thule data will continue to come from the New Horizons spacecraft over the next year, so more discoveries are possible. Kuiper Belt objects (and there are more than 100,000 of them) give us the clearest look at the early stages of the formation of the Solar System. The New Horizons spacecraft hopes to image (from a distance) 30 more Kuiper Belt objects as it continues its journey before its power will likely run out in the mid-2030s, when it will be some 100 AU from the sun. However, the spacecraft instruments have done their primary job in observing Pluto, Charon, and Ultima Thule. Don ended his exciting 43-year NASA career at the end of August on a definite high note and we wish him well in all his future endeavors and look forward to him soon becoming a GRAA member.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES – IT HAPPENED IN OCTOBER: The Ariel 5/UK 5 was the fifth scientific spacecraft (of a total of six launched between 1962 and 1979) and the third to be wholly built in the United Kingdom (UK) in a UK/US collaborative space research program. It was launched from a Scout rocket at the San Marco Launch Platform located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya, Africa. It carried six experiments (five UK and one US) for cosmic X-ray studies that measured the spectra, polarization, and pulsar features of X-ray sources. The tasks of the scientists with experiments on the spacecraft were designed, in general, to improve the accuracy of position measurement of X-ray stars and to measure their energy spectra. The spacecraft was spin stabilized, and two experiments scanned the sky perpendicular to the spin axis, while the other four experiments pointed parallel to the spin axis. The spacecraft’s data system generated sector information with respect to the sun’s position to enable the position of X-ray sources to be determined. Data were stored on board the satellite in core storage and dumped to ground stations once per orbit. All satellite operations were directed from a control center located in the UK and the mission ended in the spring of 1980.

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

• Angeline C. Puglisi, of Dundalk, MD, passed away on May 23^rd at 103 years young. She was initially employed at GSFC in ’63 in the Accounting Branch of the Financial Management Division in the Office of Administration (which in ’66 changed its title to the Administration and Management Directorate). Except for making a move from one building to another, she remained in the Accounting Branch during her entire stint of 14 years or so serving GSFC until retiring in ’77.
• Robert W. “Bob” Rhodes, III, of Westminster, MD, passed away on August 25^th. He was employed at GSFC in ’63 as an Aeronautical Engineer and first assigned to the Test & Evaluation Division in the Office of Technical Services. While the division title remained unchanged, the office title was changed in late ’65 to the Systems Reliability Directorate. In ’68 he transitioned to the Laboratory for Space Sciences and then in ’71 moved to the Projects Directorate to work on the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) Project. He transitioned again in ’73 to the Engineering Directorate, but continued supporting the OAO Project in the Projects Directorate. In ’76 he was briefly reassigned to the Preliminary Design Office in the Engineering Directorate and then in ’77 was moved to the Systems Division of the same directorate but was loaned out to support the MMS Project in the newly re-titled Project Management Directorate prior to deciding to retire in ’80.
• Lawrence P. “Larry” Skiscim, Sr, of Cary, NC (and formerly of Shallotte, NC) passed away on August 28^th. In the ’66 to ’67 timeframe, GSFC recruiting Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) as being personnel having essential experience and expertise to help support the Apollo Program. He arrived at GSFC in ’67 as one of six ATCs hired during the two-year period and was initially assigned to the Manned Flight Operations Division of the Manned Flight Support Directorate and remained there until ’72, when he moved to the Network Operations Division and the directorate title changed to the Networks Directorate. He remained there through ’85. At that point, the division title became the Networks Division and the directorate became the Mission Operations & Data Systems Directorate, where he continued working until retiring in ’93.

COSMIC BACKGROUND EXPLORER (COBE) 30^th ANNIVERSARY PARTY: A 30^th Anniversary Party to celebrate the launch of COBE will be held on Monday, November 18^th, in the GSFC Building 3 Auditorium from 3:30 to 8:30 pm at a cost of $45.00. It will be a fabulous time filled with food, drinks, great company, and several COBE-related talks. There will be hors d’oeuvres, dinner, and beer and wine throughout the celebration. There will also be items for sale, including John Mather’s book, along with some handouts. If interested in attending, please contact Eileen Mitchell at 301-286-5770 or email her at eileen.p.mitchell@nasa.gov for details. [NOTE: Eileen will need a check for your ticket(s) as well as your contact information postmarked no later than November 1st ]. All are welcome to attend. You can also sign yourself up to receive COBE-related emails at https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/cobe-team.

TREASURER'S REPORT: Treasurer Jackie Gasch received tax-deductible donations from Edward Danko (in memory of Larry Skiscim and Tom Janoski), Belle Davis (in memory of Marty Davis and Priscilla Struthers), Stephen K. Dolan, Lenoir Lewis, Harley Mann, William McGunigal, Gifford Moak (in memory of Jimmy Jew), Sharon Rubin (in memory of Stanley Rubin), John Stewart, Michael Tasevoli, and Catherine Waltersdorff (in memory of Paul Spadin).

THOUGHT FOR OCTOBER: Most scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. On occasion, however, the universe is also made up of a few morons, so always be clearly aware of to whom you are conversing about sensitive topics.